There are rules in every workplace. Of course they vary depending on the nature of the job, but there are always many of them. However, that could be changing…

Be here at this time

Dress this way

Ask permission for any change in routine

Fill in your time card

Sound convincing when you phone in sick…

Etc, etc

Anyone over the age of probably thirty who has had a job knows this tyranny.

The world has moved on in recent years though, not least through the influence of communications – meaning the internet.

A ‘gig economy’ of micro jobs has exploded and with shifting generations younger people want and expect more from life.

There have to be rules or nothing would get done, but what may have been lost in decades gone by is trust in people to do the right thing. When you trust your team wonderful things happen: you get loyalty in spades; you get better productivity; your customers feel the difference in the people they’re dealing with; people are generally happier!

One of the UK’s big accountancy firms, PwC, has recognised and embraced this in a way that could set a standard for more big employers. Flexible and limited contracts have been introduced to attract the kind of people who don’t want a nine-to-five workplace existence. If people only want to work a few months per year, it will try to fit them into project teams just for those periods. It’s enlightened.

Teething troubles

There will, undoubtedly, be teething troubles. There will be some people who take advantage of the opportunity and abuse it. But then, who said all nine-to-five employees were always perfect!

At Be Bold we’ve always said we wanted to be the kind of employer we always wanted to have. Family comes first, so if any of our team need to collect a sick child from school, get to that Easter play or need to support an ageing parent, that’s what matters. If they can’t be at work at 9am, they can flex their time so that it suits. We accommodate as much as we sensibly can in a way that ensures we keep up the quality of service our clients expect.

We do need to have our phones covered because, while we’re certainly not an emergency service, our clients have emergencies and need to reach us, but that’s what technology is for! Should you get our voicemail, someone always sees it and can respond. Technology can free us up in so many other ways too, for home or mobile working and to collaborate in teams wherever we are.

We applaud PwC for a bold step that needs more large-scale, high profile employers to follow suit. We’ll all be much happier that way.

Get in touch

There is no one-size-fits-all solution in our business. Every client is different, with different needs. That’s why we start by talking! If you’d like to have a chat about how we might fit with you, please drop us a line or give us a call and we’ll get the ball rolling.